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I drink beer to be happy, not to be drawn into political issues


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I stopped at my favorite watering hole a couple of days ago, and an old friend at the counter joined me. When our server asked if he wanted his usual – a Bud Light – he said no.

We all know why he changed his allegiance to his favorite beer – the most popular beer on the planet. But his reason was astute and not based on any bias against transgender people.

That’s how to conduct a protest. No signs. No bullhorns. No parades. Do it with your wallet.

The more I thought about it, the more I agreed. I don’t drink beer to support or rally against any movement. I drink beer to be happy. While some want me to enhance my brain cells, I chose to wipe out a few and be satisfied.

When political movements and social stances impede my ability to throw back a couple, that’s where I draw the line. I drink beer to forget politics and what’s going on in the country. It’s really the only sanctuary against the downward spiral in this country many of us have left.

I don’t care if Bud Light put transgender social media star Dyland Mulvaney’s image on the side of its cans. They had to know there would be a blowback. Just think, who drinks that beer anyway?

While I support the company’s decision to make a political stand, I also support the community’s reaction. If it bothers a Bud Light drinker enough – and I’m not one – that they will switch bands, so be it.

That’s how a true protest happens.

Sales of Bud Light dropped 17% compared to sales during the same timeframe a year ago in the two weeks following the social media post. It was so bad when I was at the Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago for a NASCAR race, beer vendors were told not to stock more than a couple of cans of Bud Light in their carts because nobody was buying the beer.

My buddy who owns my favorite watering hole said he hadn’t sold more than a handful of cans of Bud Light since the controversy spun out of control with the release earlier in April.

Anheuser-Busch responded by suspending two executives who managed Bud Light’s sponsorship of Mulvaney, with 1.8 million Instagram followers and 10.8 followers on TikTok. Alissa Heinerscheild, who was Budweiser’s vice president of global marketing, was made the patsy after she said it was a good idea to expand Bud Light’s targeted marketing.

Again, nobody drinks beer to support or protest a cause. We drink because it helps them forget about all the turmoil in the world.

A global marketing vice president, Daniel Blake, also was pushed out the door.

Trust me, nothing of this magnitude wasn’t approved without the highest approval.

Heinerscheild and Blake made a calculated decision that was stupid, and the company is more than willing to let them fall on their swords for it.

This comes at the same time when a transgender Montana lawmaker went to the dais to tell any lawmaker who voted against allowing minors – our babies – from getting sex-change operations. The lawmaker said anyone who votes against allowing children to get sex changes will have “blood on their hands.”

There’s no need to protest this stance, either. In reality, any parent who agrees to have their young children subjected to a sex-change operation should be jailed. Forever.

Like the decline in Bud Light sales, the best way to protest this is by voting Zooey Zephyr out of office. If they agree with him – yes, I said him – position, vote to return him to the Montana House of Representatives.

Either way, feel free to go to your favorite watering hole and order a beer. At least it won’t bother you as much.